Page 96 of Owning His Mate

The witches disappear almost simultaneously with the other female, who I assume is Revna. As soon as they vanish, the invisible force holding me down lifts off my back, and I surge to my feet. My heart is in my throat, icy claws clutching around it as I move around everyone in my path. I don’t give a fuck that I’m naked. My only thought is reaching Apryle.

Even from here, I can see the river of blood staining the white stone beneath her arm. The way her arms are pulled over her head and secured means she has no way to stem the bleeding, and the bond between us that had been muted is thrumming through my mind again. I can sense her fading, her consciousness slipping away, and bile climbs up my throat.

As I reach the edge of the table she’s lying on, I suck in a breath through my teeth at how pale her skin is. Her head is tipped to the side, her dark lashes stark against her ghastly pallor. I grab her face in one hand, turning her toward me.

“Apryle.” She doesn’t stir, her eyes remaining resolutely shut. “Come on, sweetheart, open those eyes for me.”

I try to reach her through the bond, but it’s like trying to grab steam. I can sense she’s there, but I can’t reach her or touchher. My pulse is thundering in my ears as I let go of her face, trying not to focus on how her head rolls to the side bonelessly, and grab the ropes binding her, tearing them apart with my bare hands so I can lower her arms.

She’s wearing those stupid fucking bracelets that stop her power, and they are slippery with her blood, but they are not important right now. Stopping the bleeding is all I need to focus on. I wrap my hands around the wound on her arm. It’s such a long, jagged injury that I can only cover part of it, and the blood keeps pumping out of the exposed cut.

Shit. I need Halle. Desperately, my gaze bounces around the crowd. Most of Erik’s people fled the moment Revna appeared, leaving only his fanatics followers behind. I don’t see Halle, but some of our group move closer to us, taking down any enemy that tries to get close. My heart thumps as I realize they’re creating a shield of protection around me and Apryle.

Certain we’re safe for now, I give my mate my attention, brushing her hair off her face.

“Stay with me, please.” I don’t care that I’m begging. I don’t care how broken I sound either. If she dies, I’m going with her. There is no world that makes sense to me without her in it.

Apryle and I might have gotten off to a rocky start, but she is the other half of my soul. I don’t know how to exist with her gone. Her blood bubbles between my fingers, and I let out a growl as my wolf lifts his muzzle to howl.

“Fuck.” I glance up as Dove steps up on the other side of the stone table. Her legs are bare, and she’s wearing her jacket zipped up, probably the only thing she had time to remove before the shift happened. Everyone shifted. Even those who were said to be latent.

I wanna ask questions, find out more, but not now. My only priority is Apryle. Dove’s hands join mine, and I smell the burned scent of her magic as she tries to help my mate.

After a moment, she releases me and lets out a frustrated sound. “I can’t heal her. I don’t know how. We need Halle.”

“I’m here!” I twist to glance over my shoulder as Halle rushes up to us.

Like Dove, Halle is wearing an oversized hoodie that I’m sure belongs to Cade. Her pants and shoes are gone. There is also a cut to her head that is bleeding profusely, staining the side of her face bright red, but she still places her hands over Apryle’s arm, sucking in a deep breath as she closes her eyes. Again, I smell the magic as it leaves her body to infuse my mate’s.

I’ve been scared on a number of occasions, including when we were taken by Revna’s little cult, but even that pales in comparison to how I feel right now. Healing can only do so much, and if the body is broken beyond repair…

Dove, as if sensing where my thoughts have gone, reaches over the table to grab my hand. No one has ever tried to comfort me before except for Apryle, so it has me lifting my eyes to her, confused. Her smile is soft, reassuring.

“She’ll be okay. Halle brought me back when I was dead, and Apryle is still breathing.”

I have no idea what that means, but my attention is shattered as Apryle sucks in a huge breath, like her lungs have been starved this entire time. Her eyes pop open, and her awareness floods my mind. The wound on her arm is gone, leaving unblemished skin where it was, but the blood still stains every inch of her on the stone where her arm had been.

I don’t care about that. I don’t care about anything but her. My wolf calms as I grab her face, kissing every inch of her mouth. Her hands wrap around mine as she kisses me back, her lips soft and responsive. After thinking I would never kiss her again, feeling her still here with me is overwhelming.

I bend over her so I can press my forehead to hers, still gripping her face, afraid to let go of her in case she disappears.

“I thought I lost you.”

“I’m pretty tough to kill,” she quips, and despite everything, I bark out a laugh.

“Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I had no choice in the matter.” She tries to sit up, and despite the healing, she is still weak, so I place my hands on her back to support her trembling frame.

Her eyes bounce between Halle and Dove. “You’re bleeding.”

Halle’s fingers touch her forehead, coming away stained. “I’m fine. Head wounds are messy. Are you okay?”

Apryle nods, glancing around as I do the same. I follow her line of sight, seeing Wyatt, Jackson, Cade and Roux surrounding us to fight against the last of our enemies. Bodies are strewn across the ground, blood staining the grass around them. They risked everything for us and my own throat feels tight.

I’m distracted as power cracks all around us. I pull Apryle against me, protecting Halle and Dove as I seek out the cause of it.

The white-haired man, who has been a nightmare of so many hybrids for millennia, is the one who looks terrified for once. He is on his knees, Sawyer standing behind him, Callum with a gun pressed against his temple and his power swirling around him. Beck, Talia, Ayden, and Archie surround him, also pointing weapons in his direction.

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